Snowmobile toe warmer

ABSTRACT

A housing is formed of sheet metal encapsulated in plastic. This housing has an inner chamber with a rearwardly facing opening to the chamber. The housing is attached to the footboards of a snowmobile. Between the metal walls is an electric heater. The opening and chamber are of a size to receive the toe portion of a person&#39;&#39;s footwear. Insulation is provided between the heating element and the adjacent exterior of the housing.

United States Patent Polly, Sr. 5] Feb. 22, 1972 SNOWMOBILE TOE WARMER 1,992,003 2/1935 Cook ...237/l2.3 A [72] Inventor: Jack J. y Sr, 2524 Silver Creek 2,656,904 10/1953 Gremer ..l80/5 R Dnve Frankh Park Primary Examiner-C. L. Albritton [22] Filed; Man 31, 1971 Att0meyDarbo, Robertson & Vandenburg 21 Appl. No: 129,792

[ ABSIRACT 52] U.S.Cl ..219/202,1s0/5 R, 237/123 A A b g is Sheet metal P P E [51] Int. Cl l B601 1/02 ThlS housmghas an inner chamber with a rearwardly facmg [58] Field of Search 213 opening to the chamber. The housing is attached to the foot 219 342 5 535 boards of a snowmobile. Between the metal walls is an electric I 37 237/123 heater. The opening and chamber are of a size to receive the 126/204; 280/1137 E; 18 R toe portion of a persons footwear. Insulation is provided [56] f C between the heating element and the adjacent exterior of the Re erences ited housing.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Y 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1,134,995 4/1915 Cook .2l9/202 2e 1 v 17: l 5 1 /a 13: a

Nita-"2 i.

SNOWMOBILE TOE WARMER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the main, snowmobiles are operated during winter conditions such that the operator of a snowmobile has difficulty keeping all parts of his body warm. Even though the temperature may not be extremely low, the chill factor occasioned by the combination of the subfreezing temperature and air movement often is very low. While some parts of the body can be adequately protected by heavy clothing, this is not really true of the toes of the feet. The toes of a snowmobile operator often are badly chilled.

The present invention relates to an electrically heated housing that is mounted on the footboard of a snowmobile to receive the toe portion of the operators footwear and thereby substantially assist in preventing undue chilling of the operators toes. These housings are simple and relatively inexpensive. They are easily mounted on the footboards and connected to a source of electrical energy already present in the snowmobile. The power consumption is relatively low since they serve to merely take off the chill at the toe portion of the boot rather than function as a heater to heat the toes.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the invention in use in protecting a persons foot;

FIG. 2 is an end view as seen at line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a partial section as viewed at line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT The following disclosure is offered for public dissemination in return for the grant of a patent. Although it is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claims at the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose, as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

FIG. 1 illustrates an item of footwear l (shoe or boot) resting on the footboard 11 of a snowmobile. A housing, generally 12, defines a cavity 13 with a rearwardly facing opening 14. This housing is secured to footboard 11, as by means of screws or bolts 15. The cavity is of a size only slightly larger than conventional footwear. A satisfactory size has been 3 inches high, 4 inches wide (between walls 25 and 26) and 3 V2 inches deep from opening 14.

The housing is formed by two generally J-shaped metal walls 17 and 18. Adjacent wall 17 is a sheet of mica insulation 19, and there is a second sheet 20 of mica insulation spaced therefrom. Between the two sheets of mica insulation is a heater formed by a nichrome heating wire 21. Between the mica insulation 20 and metal wall 18 is a layer of asbestos paper insulation 22. In the area of the heating wire 21 there is also a sheet of asbestos paper insulation 23 on the exterior of metal wall 18. The whole structure is encapsulated in a covering of thermosetting epoxy resin 24. There are also two sidewalls 25 and 26 which are likewise formed of a sheet metal interior coated with the epoxy resin.

The two ends of the nichrome heating element 21 are fastened to two respective binding posts 28 and 29. A wire 30 connects the binding post 29 to a suitable source of power on the snowmobile, such as battery 31. A wire 32 connects the battery 31 to the snowmobile ignition switch 33. A wire 34 connects switch 33 to the snowmobile engine and to a switch 36. Switch 36 is connected to binding post 28 by a wire 37.

The nichrome heating wire 21 need not supply a great deal of heat. For example, a heating element that will consume 24 watts at 12 volts is entirely adequate. This will supply suffcient heat to take the chill off the cavity 13 so that the toe of the item of footwear 10 positioned within the cavity, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is not exposed to the bitter cold of the chill factor defined by the ambient temperature and the wind speed. The asbestos insulation both within and without the outside metal wall 18 insures that most of the heat generated in the heating element flows inwardly toward the cavity 13.

In some embodiments, the exterior sheet of asbestos insulation 23 can be dispensed with. Also, in some instances, where a housing 12 is to be mounted immediately adjacent a vertical wall extending upwardly from footboard 11 on the snowmo bile a corresponding side of the cavity (i.e., side 25 or 26) can be eliminated with the vertical wall of the snowmobile forming the respective side of cavity 13.

I claim:

1. An accessory for a snowmobile having a source of electric power and a footboard and operated by a person in winter clothing including items of footwear, said accessory comprising:

a housing adapted to be attached to the footboard, said housing having a rearwardly facing opening and walls defining an internal cavity of a size to receive the toe of one of the items of footwear, said walls being relatively rigid, a heating element in one of said walls, an insulator between said element and the external part of said one wall, and means to connect said element to said source.

2. An accessory as set forth in claim 1, wherein said walls are metal and are encapsulated in an epoxy resin. 

1. An accessory for a snowmobile having a source of electric power and a footboard and operated by a person in winter clothing including items of footwear, said accessory comprising: a housing adapted to be attached to the footboard, said housing having a rearwardly facing opening and walls defining an internal cavity of a size to receive the toe of one of the items of footwear, said walls being relatively rigid, a heating element in one of said walls, an insulator between said element and the external part of said one wall, and means to connect said element to said source.
 2. An accessory as set forth in claim 1, wherein said walls are metal and are encapsulated in an epoxy resin. 